Square launches contactless payment and chip reader in Canada

The company is also bringing debit transactions to Canada

U.S-based financial services company Square has launched a brand new contactless payment and chip reader in Canada.

The company announced the new product at a panel discussion led by Square CEO and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.

“One word to really describe Square…is the word access,” said Dorsey, during the panel. “Giving people access to the economy in ways that they previously had not. Our purpose is to build tools to help people enter the economy.”

The product is a white square that can be connected to the company’s Square Stand card reader. Customers will now be able to pay with their mobile devices, tap-enabled cards and chip-enabled cards.

Additionally, the company also announced that debit transactions — a much-requested feature — will be available in Canada. Customers will now be able to pay with their chip- and tap-enabled debit cards, as well as their credit cards.

In a roundtable discussion with media, Jesse Dorogusker — Square’s vice president of hardware — confirmed that the company’s credit card fee of 2.65 percent will not change.

The company will also be waiving its $0.10 debit fee until the end of 2017.

According to Dorsey, with the introduction of the new Square chip and contactless payment reader, the company is moving towards a “complete Square.”

Dorsey also briefly touched on the subject of bringing his company’s two other major products, the Cash app and the Square Cash Card, to Canada.

While Dorsey said that he would like to see the Cash app and Cash Card in Canada, “it’s a matter of doing the work.”

“We would like to enable all of our products in every market,” said Dorsey. “It’s work, entering any market with a different product requires work on our side, it’s not just an okay from a partner. Connections that need to be made, code that needs to be written and hardware that needs to be tests — it’s work on both sides.”

The Square contactless payment and chip reader will be available through Square’s website for $59 CAD. The company said that the product will be available “in weeks” at retailers including Staples, Apple, London Drugs and Amazon.ca.